Why I Don’t Follow the Four Gift Rule at Christmas

I like the idea of the four gift rule at Christmas. You know, the whole; something you want, something you need, something you wear, and something you read idea. Kids have a lot of stuff, and a lot of kids are fortunate to have a lot of stuff. But that would really, really cut into my style of spoil all of the kids, with all of the things notion that happens when we start tallying up the presents that are going under the Christmas tree.

Let’s face it. The awesomeness that I remember as a child was coming down the stairs when we were young to a pile of presents under the tree. A pile of presents that says Santa was here! You were good and he was here! That magic? The pile of presents, the spoiling and being covered in wrapping paper after party of the presents. That’s some Christmas awesome-maker, right there.

Think back to when you were a kid, do you remember the magic of coming downstairs and seeing a pile of presents under the Christmas tree? I know that I do. I imagine that my parents had their own smiles as they walked down the stairs to the screeches of children in the living room wowedby the brightly wrapped gifts.

Consumerist? Kid-spoiler? Shallow? Maybe… but…

You only get so many Santa Years.

Think about that. There are a few years in there between the ages of three and seven (maybe eight if you’re lucky) where the kids are going to believe in the magic of Santa Clause and we are taking full advantage of those years. We even give Santa credit for all of the gifts under the tree, putting no presents under the tree until Christmas eve when the kids are fast asleep.

Talking about it with a friend last year, we came to the conclusion that there are more places to shop. There are more sales, and more people are starting to shop ahead of time or plan their budget for the holidays. We came to the conclusion that once a year, filling the tree with presents isn’t going to make them brats – combined with the teaching of the importance of generosity and giving back, it’s going to teach them the joy of being generous when they’re older.